Ice machine



Feb. 3,1948. 1.. v. LUCIA ICE MACHINE Filed March 16, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

Feh S, 1948. v. LUCIA ICE MACHINE Filed March 16, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 llllllllllllllllllllll 1! III:rlllloilav'vinrlpltlll Ill INVENTOR.

Patented Feb. 3, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT orFi ca Louis V. La o t mer-d, Conn. Application March 18, 1944, Serial No. 526,724

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This invention relates to an ice machine for producing ice from water, by means of a refrigcrating system using a refrigerant such as ammonia, Freon, brine or the like; the ice being produced preferably in the form of cakes, or plates, which can be easily broken into small pieces for table or other use.

Although such machines have heretofore been available, they have proven considerably troublesome due to the means which have been employed for removing the ice from the freezing surface of the machine. It must be understood that, while it is comparatively easy to produce ice upon a refrigerated surface, it is extremely diiiicult to remove such ice from that surface in a manner which can be used in an automatic machine that produces ice by a continuous process. Also, in

the machines heretofore known, the ice has been formed on open surfaces and, therefore, the ice produced has been flaky and more in the nature of snow rather than clear ice.

An object of this invention therefore is to provide an automatic machine for producing clear ice and having novel and highly efllcient means forpquickly and efficiently releasing and ejecting the formed ice from said machine during the operation thereof.

A further object of this invention is to provide an automatic machine which will provide ice in forms of plates that can be easily broken up by suitable means, to supply said ice in broken pieces.

A still further object of this invention is to provide an ice-making machinein whichice is formed between walls of stretchable material which can be stretched to break the bond between the said ice and the freezing walls to thereby permit ice to be ejected from the machine.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will be more clearly understood from the following description and from the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the machine embodying my invention showing the cover member removed therefrom.

Fig. 2 is a side view of the machine with parts thereof shown in central verticalsection.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of a portion of said machine illustrating the operation of the stretchable releasing members in releasing the formed ice from the machine.

Fig. 4 is an end view of the machine on line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view showing the releasing members in stretched condition with a plate of formed ice being ejected therefrom.

' Fig. 6 is a detail view, partly in central vertical section, of the cam mechanism for operating the releasing members. a

Fig. 7 is a detail view of a portion of one of said releasing members showing the manner of sealing the same.

Fig. 8 is a side view, partly in central vertical section, showing a breaker mechanism which may be used in connection withsaid machine.

Fig. 9 is a detail view, in central vertical section, of a modified form of releasing member.

As illustrated in the drawings, my invention may be embodied in a machine having a casing 5 containing a freezing unit 6 and a portion I containing suitable refrigerating mechanism for processing and supplying a refrigerant to said freezing unit.

The said freezing unit is preferably constructed to provide a plurality of freezing compartments I between freezing walls 9 of freezing members II. The opposite walls of said members being reinforced against internal pressure by means of webs or bars ll.

As illustrated, a plurality of said freezing members are vertically mounted within a frame I! with their freezing surfaces l3 in opposed positions to form the sides of the freezing compartments 8. Such freezingmembers may consist of hollow castings, or other suitable construction, and the opposed surfaces thereof may be covered with an insulating material, such as shown at N, which is applied to the tops of the members but may also be applied to the exposed exterior surfaces to prevent accumulation of frost.

Each of the said freezing compartments 8 is provided with an elongated tubular releasing member having walls 15 of a suitable stretchable material. The top of each of said members is provided with a frame embedded within an enlarged bordering portion l6 and the bottom is provided with bars "-11 which are embedded in a thickened portion lS-a extending along the parallel long edges of said members.

The opposite ends of said bars I! extend through cam slots il-IS, which are provided for each member in the walls 19 of the freezing unit frame l2, and rest within a slot 2|! in a head 2| that is mounted at the end of a connecting bar 22,

The said connecting bar carries, at the opposite,

end thereof, a slotted member 23 which is positioned by a stud 24 that carries a cam disk 2 which has a cam groove 26 and is rotated by means of a bevel gear 21 that meshes with a bevel gear 28 on a driving shaft 29. A roller 36 is carried in the upper end of the member 23 and prolects into the cam groove 26 for oscillating said member and the connecting bar 22 with the head 2| thereon through the rotation of the cam disk 25.

It will be noted that the enlarged border l6, along the upper edge of each of the releasing members l5, provides a flange extending along said edge which rests within a recess 3| over the top of the freezing compartment 8 and suspends the said releasing member I! between the walls of said compartment with the bottom edges of the walls of said member extending below the bottom of the freezing compartment 8 and controlled by the operation of the bars l1l I, as will be hereinafter described.

Refrigeration for said freezing unit may be provided by various types of well known refrigerating systems. One of such systems, as illustrated herein, may consist of a compressor. 32, a condenser 33 that is connected to an accumulator 34, and a power source, such as an electric motor 35, for driving the ice forming unit and refrigerating system In addition, there is also provided a water supply controlling system which includes a supply pipe 36, a float valve 31 operated by a measuring tank 38 and a distributing valve 39. The said water supply system also includes a valve 40 in the supply pipe 36 and a separate valve 4| for controlling the flow of water from the measuring tank 38. Each of said valves may be operated by a speed reduction unit, indicated at 42, which is driven through a belt 43 by the motor 35.

The operation of my improved ice forming machine is as follows:

' A suitable refrigerant, such as ammonia, Freon or the like, is supplied within the refrigerating system in quantity'suflicient to fill the refrigerant chamber within the freezing members Ill to a level below the vapor openings 44 near the tops of said chambers. When the machine is in operation, the motor 35 will drive the compressor 32 and also the speed reducer 42. Gases from the refrigerant will rise, through the vapor openings 44 into the header 45 and the tube 46, into the chamber of the accumulator 34. Any entrained liquids carried by said gases will drop at the bottom of said chamber and return to the refrigerant chambers in the freezing members l while the gases will pass, through the pipe 41,,into the compressor 32, wherein the said gases will be compressed. From the compressor, the gases will pass through the condenser 33 in which they will be cooled by the operation of the fan 48 which forces air through the radiator 49 of the condenser. The condensate from said gases, or vapors, will then pass through. the return pipe 50 into the header and from there through the inlet openings 52 into the bottoms of the chambers in the containers l0.

Further description of the operation of the refrigerating system is not believed necessary since such systems are commonly known and any suitable type of well known systems using either a primary or secondary refrigerant may be employed in the operation of my invention.

During the operation of my novel ice forming machine, the freezing unit and the supply of water to the freezing compartments is controlled in timed relation by means of thespeed reducing unit 42. Water is supplied through the supply pipe 38 to the valve 40 which is operated by means of the drive shaft 53 that is rotated by the unit 42. When the said valve 40 is open, water will flow into the tank 38, through the spout 36-a, until it reaches a pre-determined level at which enough water will be contained within the said tank to fill one of the freezing compartments between the walls of the releasing members [5. At this point, the float 54 will operate to shut off the valve 31 and thereby discontinuing the flow of water into the tank 38.

When one of the freezing compartments 8 is empty and ready to be filled with water, the valve 4! will be opened by the rotation of the said shaft 53 and the water will flow therethrough into the distributing valve 33 and from the said distributing valve directly into the empty freezing compartment.

It is to be understood that each of the valves 40 and 4| may be of the rotating type, consisting of a plug which is rotated by the shaft 53, and that the said shaft is rotated at a constant and comparatively low speed so that one revolution of the valve plugs is provided within the time that it requires to produce a, slab of ice in the freezing unit.

Assuming that it will take four minutes to freeze water in one compartment so as to form a slab of ice therein, there being four freezing compartments provided, the said valve plug would rotate at the rate of once a minute.

The distributing valve 39 may be of any well known construction and may preferably consist of an outer casing having an internal rotating plug extending the length of said casing and provided with four openings, one registering with each of the spouts 55 in said valve over each of the freezing compartments. The said openings would be spaced at around the circumference of the plug and the said plug would rotate at one revolution every four minutes. Therefore, when the water is supplied from the measuring tank 38 into the said distributing valve, the water will flow through a central openings in the plug and be discharged through one of the spouts 55 into an empty freezing compartment once every minute.

As illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawings, there is shown at 56, a quantity of water which has just been delivered into an empty freezing compartment within a releasing member I5. At 5'! there is shown water which has been previously de-- livered and is partly frozen along the freezing walls of the compartment, and, at 58, water which was delivered previous to the water shown at 51 and which is in a more advanced stage of freezing.

When a slab of ice has been completely formed within a, freezing compartment, rotation of the cam disks 25 will cause the connecting bars 22- 22, that are associated with that particular compartment, to move downwardly and thereby carry the bars I'I-ll to the position shown in Fig. 3. During their travel to this position, the slots I8 will move the said bars apart while the downward movement of said bars wil cause stretching of the walls of the releasing member as clearly shown in said Fig. 3. This stretching of the walls will operate to break the bond between the frozen plate of ice, indicated at 59, and the said walls as well as the bond between the'said walls and the surfacesof the interior walls 8 of the'memhers I 0.

The bond breaking action of the stretchable walls occurs as the said walls of the releasing c ances unit are being stretched. Their stretching causes the walls to be reduced in thickness while. at the same time. pulling them away from the walls 8 and the surface of the ice 59 on a line traveling upwardly, as the walls are stretched, along said surfaces, until the plate of ice has become entirely released. Thereupon, the said plate will fall by gravity through the bottom of the releasing member and through the opening 60 in the bottom of the freezing unit casing t.

It will be noted that," when the bars i'i-l'l are forced downwardly, the cam slots it will force the said bars apart and open the bottom of the releasing unit to permit free downward passage of the ice plate as clearly illustrated in Fig. of the drawings.

As the plates of ice fall from the machine through the opening 80, they may be delivered to a suitable breaker mechanism ti, which will break them up into small pieces, and therefrom be delivered into a bin or storage space at. If desired, however, the said plates may be simply allowed to fall into the bin and there remain intact or break into larger chunks by impact or by internal stresses caused during the freezing of the plates.

When the plate of ice has been released from a freezing compartment, continued rotation of the driving shaft 29 will cause return of the bars il-il' to their normal position, in which they will force the thick resilient portions l5a, at.

the sides of said member, to be squeezed between the bars, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 7, and thereby provide a watertight seal at the bottom of said members. After the bottom has been closed, water will again flow into the empty compartment, and the cycle of operation is repeated.

From the above description, it will be understood that my machine provides 'a mechanism which will automatically produce pieces of ice in the form of slabs, plates or cakes, release them so that they will be ejected from the freezing compartment and condition the freezing compartment to successively receive'liquid for the formation of subsequent pieces of ice.

Due to the construction of my improved machine, it is possible to provide as many freezing compartments as may be needed for producing a required amount of ice within a certain period of time.

It is again pointed out that the movement of the mechanism operating the freezing unit is comparatively slow, the same being timed to the freezing capacity of the machine but such movement is entirely automatic in performing the cycles which consist of closing the bottom of the freezing compartments, delivering water to said compartment, allowing the water to freeze, opening the bottom of the said compartment, releasing the slab of formed ice by breaking the bond between the walls of the compartment and the surface of the ice and allowing the said ice to drop out of the freezing compartment.

My improved machine provides a plurality of freezing compartments each of which is disposed vertically, has a large area of freezing surface relative to its capacity for liquid and is adapted to produce a, plate of ice which can be easily broken into small pieces for serving.

In the machines known, the ice is usually produced in flake form upon a freezing surface which is entirely exposed to the air. This causes the ice flakes to become aerated and thus resemble snow, rather than ice, and is therefore not well suited for use in serving for drinks or the like.

8 In the machine of the present invention, the freezing surfaces are not exposed to the air and thus ice is produced with a clear surface, rather than with an opaque surface such as that of the ice produced in the known machines.

If it is desired to produce ice having a clear interior, the releasing members it may be constructed as illustrated in Fig. 9 of the drawings. wherein the walls of said members are made relatively thick at the top, as at i5-a, and gradually thinner towards the bottom. This will assure freezing of the liquid from the bottom up, since the walls of the members is operate as insula tion and, being thicker towards the top, will relatively retard the freezing in that direction. Thus the locking of air within the ice is prevented and the production of clear-ice is thereby greatly aided.

It is to be also noted that my improved machine freezes from two sides and forms the ice plates in vertical position so that they will occupy a minimum of space with a maximum area of sur face exposed to freezing temperature and may be delivered from the machine through the bottom by gravity. In order to aid the delivery of the ice plates, they are preferably tapered with the reduced end at the top so that they can be more easily released from between. the walls of the compartments.

A low freezing emulsion, such as oil, may be applied to the freezing surfaces 3 to improve heat transfer between the freezing units and the liquid to be frozen.

I claim:

1. In a machine of the character described comprising a freezing compartment for forming a body said bars being drawn together, and thereby providing a watertight seal for the bottom of said member.

2. A machine of the character described comprising a freezing unit having a freezing compartment therein, refrigerating means for main talning said compartment at a freezing temperature, a stretchable lining against the walls of said compartment, means for closing the bottom of said compartment for retaining a quantity of liquid to be frozen therein, and means for opening the bottom of said compartment and actuating said lining to release ice, formed in said compartment, through the bottom thereof.

3. An ice forming machine of the character described comprising a'freezing unit having a plurality of freezing compartments, each of said compartments having a lining therein forming a freezing chamber within said compartment, means for maintaining said chambers at a freezing temperature, means forclosing the bottoms of said chambers to contain liquid therein, means for delivering liquid to said chambers, and means for opening the'bottoms of said chambers and actuating the lining to release ice formed in said chambers and permit the said ice to drop by gravity through the bottoms of the chambers.

4. A machine of the character described comprising a freezing unit including a plurality of freezing compartments, refrigerating means for maintaining said compliments at a freezing temperature, means for opening and closing the bottoms of said compartments, means for delivering liquid into said compartments through the tops thereof, and stretchable means for releasing bodies of ice formed in said compartments; said last means permitting said bodies to drop through said bottoms.

5. A machine of the character described comprising a freezing unit including a plurality of freezing compartments, refrigerating means for maintaining said compartments at freezing temperature, a stretchable lining within each of said compartments abutting the walls thereof, means for delivering a measured amount of liquid into each of said compartments, said means including a distributing valve adapted to successively deliver liquid to said compartments, means for actuating said valve, and means actuated in timed relation with said actuating means for opening and closing the bottoms of said compartments and actuating said linings to release bodies of ice formed from said liquid from the walls of said compartment.

6. A machine of the character described comprising a freezing unit having a freezing compartment, a resilient stretchable bag-like member within said compartment, means supporting said member from the top of said compartment,

a plurality of bars extending along the bottom of said member, thickened portions in said member surrounding said bars, means for actuating said bars to open and close the bottom of said member and to stretch the same upon the opening of the bottom thereof to release a body of ice formed within said member from the walls thereof, and means above said member for delivering a measured amount of liquid thereinto after the bottom thereof has been closed.

7. A machine of the character described comprising a freezing compartment, means for maintaining said compartment at freezing temperature, a baglike member'within said compartment having resilient walls forming linings for the walls of said compartment, means for closing the bottom of said compartment for retainingv liquid therein in thermo-conducting relation with the walls thereof to form ice in said compartment, and means for opening the bottom of said compartment and exerting a pull on said resilient walls to stretch the same and thereby free said ice from said compartment.

a A machine of the character described comprising ice forming means including a freezing compartment, means for maintaining said compartment at a freezing temperature, a stretchable lining against the walls of said compartment. means for delivering a measured amount of liquid into said compartment, and means for opening the bottomof said compartment and causing stretching of said lining to thereby release from the walls of said compartment ice formed from said liquid and permit said ice to drop through the bottom of the compartment.

9. A freezing machine of the character des ribed comprising a freezing compartment, mean for maintaining said freezing compartment at a freezing temperature, a liquid retaining bag in said compartment forming a lining brought against the refrigerated surfaces of said compartment by the pressure of the liquid within said bag to cause freezing of said liquid, and means for opening the bottom of said bag and causing ice formed therein to be released through said bottom.

10. A machine of the character described comprising a unit having a freezing compartment for freezing liquid therein by conduction from the walls of said compartment, and means comprising liners of .varying thickness between the liquid and said walls for causing the said .liquid to freeze from the bottom towards the top thereof.

wards the top.

LOUIS V. LUCIA.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,278,217 Reid Sept. 10, 1918 2,796,568 Lee Mar. 17, 1931 50 1,878,759 Copeman Sept. 20, 1932 2,026,227 Foraker Dec. 31, 1935 2,259,066 Gaston Oct. 14, 1941 

